


Blackgate Unleashed

by GothamRogue81



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and the Signal (Comics), Super Sons (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily, Blackgate Penitentiary, Gotham City - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-19 05:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20325946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamRogue81/pseuds/GothamRogue81
Summary: A breakout at Blackgate Prison threatens the city with the unleashing of some serious sickos.  With Batman, Robin and Nightwing away, the rest of the Batfamily is on the case.





	1. Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

“You told me it wouldn’t hurt! You bastard!” Stephanie rubbed her chest, pressing hard on the indentations made by the bullets Jason had just fired at her. She grimaced knowing that she was going to have some pretty dark bruises when she got her armor off.

Jason covered his mouth, trying to hide his laughter. “Sorry Steph,” he said. He walked over to check on her. “In fairness, that’s not what I said. I said it wouldn’t penetrate and kill you.”  
She shoved him away, shaking her head. She looked down at the front of her chest. “Well, at least it works,” she said.

“And now you have more mobility,” Tim said coming over and checking the armor. “This type of polymer is more flexible than your old Kevlar breastplate. You won’t be as constricted,” he said. As soon as he did, he shot Jay a look, knowing his mind was going somewhere dirty. “Don’t,” he said.

“Thanks Tim,” she said. She leaned in to kiss his cheek, but stopped as an alarm went off. The three of them looked over towards the Batcave’s main computer station. The CCTV network of Gotham displayed fires in various parts of the city and police and fire response teams traveling towards the multiple sites. 

Oracle’s voice bellowed out of the computer. “We have a problem,” she said.

“We know,” Jay replied. “We’re seeing it.” 

“No, the fires aren’t the problem, the police and fire departments have that under control,” she said. On the screen, a single shot enlarged, as Oracle zoomed in from her control center. “I think they’re a distraction from this,” she said as the camera showed them what she was referring to. 

It was outside of Blackgate Penitentiary. A tractor trailer was barreling across Blackgate Bridge, full speed. The guards began to fire at the truck, but there was no stopping it as it smashed through the front gate, taking down a portion of the wall and fencing. 

The truck reached the front corner of the building and finally came to a stop after burying it’s nose on the concrete and brick. The guards continued to fire at the doors of the truck, but it was pointless, as seconds later, the truck exploded, blowing the corner of the building open even wider. 

Red Robin, Red Hood and Spoiler were already in the Batwing, firing it up and heading out of the Cave. “Batman is off world with Nightwing and Robin. Batwoman and Orphan are en route and I’ve put out beacons to Huntress, Bluebird and Signal,” Oracle reported on the console as they flew across the city.

“We’re already on the way, almost there,” Red Robin said as they neared Blackgate Island. The smoke rose up so high and so thick that it looked like a skyscraper on the skyline. 

“Get ready to deploy,” Hood said as he set the autopilot. 

“My favorite part,” Batgirl said the hatch opened and she was the first to leap out. The three of them dove downward towards the smoke and chaos, picking up speed before extending their arms and  
gliding down to a safe landing. 

“Red, you and Batgirl watch the perimeter,” Hood said. 

“And where are you going?” Batgirl asked?

He looked back with a laugh. He hit a button on his collar and his helmet came out and snapped in place over his head. “I’m going in,” he yelled out, drawing his guns before running directly into the smoke and flames towards the opening in the building.

The other two separated to either side of the trailer. Batgirl shot a grappling hook up to the guard tower near the Northeast corner. As she landed, the guards spun around, but held their fire when they saw her. “Has anyone emerged yet?” she asked.

They shook their heads. “I don’t think so. Too much smoke and flame,” one of them answered. 

She scoffed, “Tell that to Red Hood,” she said. “Keep your eyes out and radio to the other guards to do the same. We’re going to secure the area from the ground,” she said. They nodded, and she hopped over the edge. 

By the time she landed, Batwoman and Orphan had arrived and Bluebird was circling overhead on her jet wings. “Where’s Red Hood?” Batwoman asked.

“He ran inside,” Batgirl answered.

“Of course he did,” Orphan said, shaking her head. 

Signal and Huntress arrived a moment later. Batwoman took point. “You two, inside with me. Batgirl, Orphan and Red Robin take the ground while Blue scans from above. Nothing gets on or off this island!”

They ran towards the main gate and a pair of guards opened and let them in. 

Inside, Batwoman and the others followed the guards swiftly through the entry checkpoints. “Status report?” she asked as they made their way through the halls where lights flashed and alarms blared. 

The main guard yelled towards her as he led them through. “We’ve lost power in Block-A. There’s no power at all, which means no cameras. My men are heading in there now.”

“Who are the inmates in Block A?” Huntress asked

“Some heavy hitters. Cain, Day, Buchinsky, Twombey and Brown. And that creepy whack job Tetch.” 

The three looked at eachother. “That’s not good,” Signal muttered. 

“Get your men back,” Batwoman said as they reached the doorway. She looked at the others and together they entered. 

It was pitch black. Even the back up emergency lighting had been cut out. “Signal, anything?” Huntress asked. 

“No. There’s no light at all. Swtiching to nightvision,” he said. When it flashed to the black and white imagery of nightvision, he scanned the room. “It’s empty,” he said. “There’s no one here,” he said. 

Huntress and Batwoman both pulled up light sticks, illuminating the room. “Do your thing,” Huntress said.

Signal turned off the nightvision and “did his thing.” Using the light provided, he hit the proverbial replay button using his metahuman abilities. He watched it rewind. The ladies looked on as he narrated what he was seeing. “They’re in their cells. Cluemaster is at his cell door looking down the hall. He knows something is about to happen. The power is out, but there is a glimmer of light coming from…,” He walked towards the end of the hall. 

He looked into the empty cell and motioned for them to come over. There was a hole in the floor of the cell. “Well shit…”

“They were professionals. S.W.A.T. gear, night vision, mercenaries…,” Signal said, watching the events unfold. “Brown looked like he expected them,” he added.  
Signal crouched down and scooted into the hole. “Let the others know to check the harbor,” he called up, looking down the long tunnel. At the end was a large sewage pipe that had been blown open. “They took the pipes,” he said. “I’m going in,” he called up. 

“We’ll secure the rest of the cell blocks,” Batwoman called down. 

Signal entered the pipe. It was tight. He was surprised the whole group went along with it. As he crept through he heard a noise from ahead. He hadn’t thought of what he might end up finding down here. It was close quarters…too close to use his Eskrima. 

The noise was getting closer. It wasn’t loud, but it was definitely getting closer. He crept slowly towards the turning point of the pipes. As he turned the corner, he let out a quick shout and stumbled backwards. Above him, laughter. Sarcastic laughter. 

“Jesus man!” He grumbled as Red Hood reached down and helped him up. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Hood laughed again. “Well, that’s a loaded question if I ever heard one,” he said. “Head back where you came,” he said, motioning behind him. “No use. I found the exit point and was tracing it back to find out who got out. They’re long gone,” he said.

“Did you see anything?” Signal asked, turning and leading him back. 

“Cypher is dead. Saw his body on the cliff. Looks like he took a tumble when they were trying to escape,” he said.

“Or Tetch didn’t think their little group needed more than one mind controller,” Signal said. 

“Hatter was with them?” he asked?

“Yeah. And Cluemaster, Executioner, David Cain and Calendar Man,” Signal replied.

“Holy shit! The girls Dads working together? How poetic!” Hood snickered.

When the two emerged from the hole and rejoined the others, Red Hood described the explosives used on the walls and pipes. “I think the semi was a distraction. They used it to cover the explosives. As soon as they blew, the inmates were extracted and gone,” he said, retracting his helmet. 

“They probably had transportation waiting in or under the water,” Batwoman said.

“Could we call Aquaman or something?” Huntress asked.

“By the time we reached him and he got here, they’d be long gone,” Red Robin said.

The group was silent. “So we’ve got my Dad, Cass’s dad, a disgruntled guard turned killer, a SERIAL killer, a pedophile…out there now. Free,” Batgirl said, shaking her head.  
“For now,” Orphan said.

Batwoman shook her head. “We’re gonna have a lot of work ahead of us. We’ve gotta find them and get them back here,” she said.

“And find out who busted them out,” Signal said, glancing over at Batgirl. She could tell he knew something and knew they’d be talking later. For now, though, the hunt was one. 

“Every time he’s out of town… you know I’m gonna get blamed somehow,” Red Hood said as they walked out of the prison and into the night.


	2. Shattering the Looking Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian tracks down The Hatter w/ a little help from Jon Kent

It had been four days. Four days of Oracle scanning cameras and phones for any trace of the escapees. Four days of interrogating every guard and staff member of Blackgate. Four days of tracing any lead they could get from the runaway semi-truck, the type of explosives used, and any and all harbor and coastline activity in Gotham. 

Nothing had turned up. There was no chatter in Gotham. This happened a lot. Break outs from Arkham or Blackgate. Nothing new. But usually whoever the inmate was, would resurface quickly, make a big mistake and someone would take them down. Not this time.

Stephanie and Cassie hadn’t said much. Their fathers were together, loose in the city. Stephanie was almost surprised Arthur Brown hadn’t reached out somehow to get in touch with her. But then again, she was fairly certain that this was all his plan and that he was long gone.

The others agreed. They figured the group had been taken elsewhere, maybe initiated into some new some new Super-Villain group. But then the girl went missing. The papers put together the clues that were public pretty quick. Hatter had abducted another Alice for his fantasy world. 

In an extra sadistic twist, Hatter had used his mind-control devices on the girl’s father and forced him to transport the girl. With no memory of it happening, and the immense guilt and shame weighing on him, he couldn’t live with himself, and jumped off the Kane Bridge.

The press had a field day with it. Blaming everyone but the Mad Hatter himself, from the police, to the mother, to Batman himself. But Damian had had enough. After classes at Gotham Academy, he skipped out on the ride home from Alfred and took a bus into town. He ditched the school uniform for a pair of cargo pants and a large hoodie and ball cap and without really formulating a plan, headed into the seedy underbelly of Gotham, on the search for clues on Hatter’s whereabouts.

He played the part well. Looking like a homeless kid, digging for scraps in the dumpsters, blending in perfectly. He climbed a fire escape and sat on the edge of a rooftop. What looked like an Ipod was actually a listening device and he was keeping an ear out for any mentions of the girl or of Hatter, or any other perv-related chatter. He raised a brow and grimaced. “I didn’t call,” he said.  
“I know, but I figured I could help,” Jon said from behind him. 

“Don’t you have some sort of alien invader to be fighting off somewhere?” Damian asked.

“Sure, but I figure you shouldn’t be out here alone, specially when I can actually help,” Jon replied, taking a seat next to him. 

“How’d you even know I was here Kent?” he asked.

Jon laughed. “Alfred called. Said you weren’t at school when he went to pick you up. Asked me to do a flyby and see if I could find ya,” he said.  
“Traitor,” Damian muttered. 

“What are you doing up here anyway?” Jon asked.

“Hatter has a little girl. There’s been no sign of him so I decided to take a closer look,” he said.

Jon paused and silently scanned the area. “I’m not picking anything up. Are you sure he’s still in Gotham?” 

“Tetch is a monster, but he knows he is. He wants to be caught,” Damian said. “Make yourself useful and try and see if you can see any of his tech? Maybe if we find someone under his control, it can lead us back to him,” 

Jon jumped off the side and zoomed through the area, high above so as not to be noticed. He flew back. “I’ve got one better. I found his hat,” he said

Jervis had been laying low since he escaped. He was even dressed differently. A trucker hat and a big coat, he kept his eyes on the ground in front of him as he trudged down the alley and into the abandoned shop that he was calling home for now. As he opened the security gate and pushed inside, he froze, dropping the bag of groceries he had just bought on the ground.

A pair of red glowing eyes were peering out through the darkness at him. Before he could react, he felt himself swept off his feet and land full force on his back with a green gloved hand gripping his throat. He looked into the angry eyes of the newest Robin as Superboy emerged from the shadows. 

“Think you could hide Hatter?” Robin growled. “Think again.”

“What have you done? Where’s Alice?” he choked out beneath Robin’s grip.

“She’s gone. You’re all done hurting her,” Superboy said walking over. 

“Where are the other inmates Tetch?” Damian asked.

Jervis trembled. “I don’t know,” he squeaked. 

“We’re not gonna ask again,” Superboy asked, eyes glowing red and building.

“I swear! They ditched me! They said I had no part to play and that I wasn’t fit to join them,” he stammered.

Damian smirked, “A scumbag like you is too much even for other scumbags,” he said. “Get him up,” Damian said standing up. 

Superboy reached down and grabbed Tetch up by the collar, lifting him into the air. “You’re going away for a long time Hatter,” he said.

“Oh my boy, I don’t think so,” he said. Suddenly Superboy froze before lowering Tetch to his feet. He slowly turned around and Robin let out a sigh. 

“Superboy, get control, will you?” Damian asked watching Jon slowly walk toward him. 

“Control is such a valuable commodity, don’t you think Robin? That’s why it’s such a terrible thing when we lose it,” Hatter said with a smile forming ear to ear.   
Robin dodged out of the way as Superboy’s eyes lit up and a blast of heatvision seared through the room, burning through the room. He could see the Hatter’s transmitter, at the base of Superboy’s neck. Rolling to the side, he unleashed a star and chucked it, muttering to himself, “Apologies for this.”

Superboy reached back in mid-air and caught the star. He looked at it and then turned his red-gaze to back at Robin. “Kill him Superboy!” Hatter growled, regaining his composure and watching from behind. 

In a flash, Superboy was gripping Damian’s throat and lifting him up. He reached down into his belt and felt around before finding what he was looking for. “Lights…out” he croaked. He pressed a button and the mini EMP went off, frying the Hatter’s transmitter and also taking out all power.

The blast shook Jon and he dropped Robin and fell to his knees, grabbing at his neck. Hatter shrieked angrily. He pulled a hatchet out of his coat and charged at Robin. “You don’t know what you’ve done!” 

Before he could reach him, he froze as a gunshot rang out. Hatter looked down and watched the collared shirt beneath his coat slowly changed from dirty white, to crimson red. He dropped to his knees and fell forward, dead.

Robin and Superboy looked behind them. Red Hood was in the doorway. Behind him, a little girl stood cowering, gripping his leg and peeking out to see the lifeless body. “Is he?” she began to ask.

“No more monster,” Hood said. 

“That’s not what Father would say in this situation,” Robin said softly, walking past him.

“You’re welcome!” Hood called out to him.


	3. Time of the Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calendar Man strikes for the first time since his escape.

Red and blue lights flashed. Batwoman pulled the yellow police tape up and crouched under it. Detective Maggie Sawyer greeted her with solemn eyes. “It’s not pretty,” she said.

“And we’re sure it’s him?” Batwoman asked as she followed Maggie to the body. She saw the answer to her question as it came into view. The body of a man was sprawled out over a war memorial. He was split in half up the middle. His ribs had been ripped apart. His hand was saluting. It was a gruesome scene to say the least. “Jesus…” 

“Veteran’s Day…that’s a new one, right?” Sawyer said. 

“Any ID on the victim?” Batwoman asked.

Maggie handed her a pair of dogtags. “His name is Lance Dawson. 22nd Artillary. Served two tours in Syria before returning home last Fall,” she said. “He’s been a regular at the Gotham Veterans Hospital over the past three months. PTSD.”

This hit Batwoman hard. Kate Kane was a vet herself. And PTSD was no stranger to her either. Maggie could see the sickness in her eyes. She leaned in close. “Kate, if you want, I can have someone else get involved. I’d understand,” she said in a careful whisper. 

“No, it’s ok,” she said, swallowing hard and trying to hide any discomfort she had as best as she could. “Any witnesses at all, by any chance?” she asked.

“We’re in luck. The guy who called it in saw Day. Early this morning. Leaving the scene. Got on the Blue Line at Central. CCTV shows him getting off at Port Adams,” she said. 

“Have two cars meet me and Huntress there. Hopefully we can locate him and the others before something like this happens again,” she said.

Maggie nodded. "See you at home later?" she asked.

Batwoman nodded back. "At some point," she said. 

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Sawyer asked. 

"I'll be fine. I don't know about Day when we get a hold of him," she said.

Batwoman, Huntress and Nightwing all perched high above Port Adams. The three of them were spread out in different areas. “Anyone picking anything up?” Batwoman asked.

“Negative,” Huntress responded.

“It’s gotta be one of the storage warehouses,” Nightwing said. “We should check them all and alert GCPD to which one they’re in once we find them.”

“Agreed,” Batwoman said. “But tread lightly. Don’t engage them alone,” she said.

They began their search. Gliding to the rooftops and entering through broken boards or air vents. Room by room they searched the warehouses that sat along each pier. Huntress radioed first. “I have movement on the second floor here,” she whispered into the coms. 

“We’re en route,” Batwoman said. 

Huntress crept up the stairway. Inside an office overseeing the ground floor, a shadow moved around. She peeked inside the window, looking through the shades. Inside, Julian Day was pacing back and forth. She moved her hand to her crossbow holster. She took a deep breath and kicked in the door, drawing the weapon and pointing it at him. He was taken by surprise and his arms shot up in the air. “Don’t shoot!” he said.

“Where are the others?” she asked. 

“I, I don’t know. They weren’t here when I got back. I was waiting for them,” he stammered. 

She moved closer, keeping the weapon trained on him. “Who broke you out?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Brown set it up. I don’t know anything about it,” he said.

“We found your handy work Day,” Nightwing said from the doorway, eskrimas in hand and charged with electricity.

“What was the point?” Batwoman asked from behind him. He spun around to face her, keeping his hands up. “Who was he to you? Just another nameless victim?”

“Oh no my dear. He was special. He was chosen,” Julian said.

“How about I choose to put this crossbow through that tattooed skull of yours?” Huntress hissed.

“Day, where are they? It’s over. Why bother covering for them?” Nightwing said.

He shook his head. “No Nightwing. It’s only the beginning,” he said. “Brown and Cain are aligned and that spells trouble for the city of Gotham.” 

“Where are they!?” Huntress shouted. 

“Gone. I’m not part of their plan Huntress. Nor were the rest of us.” The Electrocutioner wanted nothing to do with us. We wanted nothing to do with Tetch,” he said. He reached back and pulled a knife from beneath a newspaper on the desk and went to hurl it towards her, but Huntress fired the bolt before he could release. It caught his hand and pulled it back, pinning it to the wall behind him. He screamed in pain. 

“We’ll ask again,” she said.

Nightwing shot her a look. “What do you know Julian?” he asked, walking towards him with the eskrimas sparking.   
Calendar Man winced in pain, gripping his wrist and trying to pull his hand free.

“Enough!” Batwoman growled, marching over and slamming his head into the wall next to his hand, knocking him out. He slumped down, hanging from his hand. She turned and walked out. “He doesn’t know anything. This is pointless,” she muttered walking out.

Huntress followed. Nightwing looked down at Day and shook his head. “The police are on their way,” Batwoman said as the three of them walked down the staircase. “We need to find out what those two are up to?”

“What about Buchinsky?” Huntress asked. 

“Screw him. He’s the least of our worries. He’ll turn up eventually. But we need to find Brown and Cain,” she said.

“I think they’re back at the Batcave,” Nightwing said with a smirk. The women both shot matching glares at him. “Sorry. Little children-of-bad-guys humor,” he said.

“Huntress, can you check what Blackgate may have on the two of them? Visitors. Correspondence. Anything that might help us figure out who broke them out and what they’re planning,” Batwoman said. 

"Of course," she replied.

"I'll try and get a lead on their movement post warehouse," Nightwing said. 

Batwoman nodded. "I'm going to return these to Dawson's family," she said, holding up the dogtags from Day's victim. They nodded and dispersed. 

“Oracle,” Nightwing said as he parted ways with the girls and headed out the back. “I need recon on Port Adams for the past few days. Warehouse number eight on the piers in particular.”

“Sure. What am I looking for?” she asked.

“Any sign of Brown or Cain. Comings. Goings. Anything that we might be able to go off of to find where they are now,” he said. “I’m on my way to you.”


	4. Sins of the Fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie and Cassie come to grips with their fathers' escape.

Cassie had been quiet the past few days. So much so that it felt like old times. She had eaten in silence and retreated to her room. She sat in her bedroom, curled up in her blankets reading a book when she heard a knock at the door. “Cass, can I come in?” Duke asked.

She thought about pretending to be asleep, but knew it would be futile in the end. At least it wasn’t one of the other kids. “Come in,” she said softly.

He opened the door and stood in the doorway. “How ya doing Cass?” he asked. She shrugged. He closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of her bed. “Ya know, it’s not good to keep things all inside. Maybe we could talk about it?” he asked. “If you want to, that is.”

She stayed silent for a moment, and then put her book down on the nightstand beside her bed, sitting up against the headboard. “He hasn’t tried to contact me,” she said. “My fath...David,” she said.

“And you wish he would?” he asked. “I thought…”

“I know. I know what everyone thinks. And he’s not a good man. I know that,” she said. “But when he turned himself in, he told me that he was sorry for everything. He told me that taking me away from Shiva and bringing me to Gotham was the best decision he had ever made. I think he meant it,” 

He nodded. “So you think that because he hasn’t contacted you, that he wasn’t telling the truth?” he asked.

“I just want to know what’s going on. Has he gone back to his old ways or is something else going on?” she said. “Don’t misunderstand. I love Bruce. I love all of you. And this is my family. But it hurts despite all that.”

He nodded. “I get it,” he said. “But know that we’re all here for you. I think everyone under this roof would understand how you feel and listen if you needed to talk. Staying up here by yourself isn’t going to help anything,” he said standing up. “And we miss you,” he said with a wink before leaving.

A few doors down, Stephanie was straddling Tim on the bed. As she thrusted down against him, she closed her eyes. He hated the way she looked when she was having angry sex. He knew it wasn’t personal, but it still wasn’t very enjoyable looking up at her with her eyes closed tight and her jaw clenched. She was getting out aggression and he while he was inside the girl he loved most in the world, he felt like he was invisible to her.

When she rode out her orgasm, she collapsed and rolled off of him. He hadn’t finished, but he knew it was all over. He nervously opened his mouth and the words came out. “You ok?” he asked timidly.

“Yeah, why?” she said, staring at the ceiling.

“Just seem angry,” he said. “I know it’s not me, but I just figured maybe you wanted to tell me what’s going on?” he added, almost immediately regretting the statement.

She propped herself up and looked at him. “What are you talking about? Angry?” she asked abruptly. 

He looked down at himself and then to her and then into her eyes. “That was pretty angry sex. So I’m guessing something is on your mind Steph,” he said. She laid back down. “I just want to help,” he said, turning towards her.

She stared up at the ceiling again. “I’ve just got stuff on my mind,” she said. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging the blanket. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you did anything wrong,” she added. 

“I don’t,” he said matter-of-factly. She turned towards him and raised a brow. He laughed. “Just tell me. It’s your Dad right?” he asked.

She nodded. “I just…I’m conflicted,” she said. 

He wrapped an arm around her and she rested her head on his chest. “Do you know why I love you so much?” he asked, kissing her head. “It’s because you’ve been through so much, and yet you’re still capable of love. Of forgiveness,” he said. “I know that I can’t relate to what you’re feeling right now. My dad and I never had a great relationship, but he was still my dad and I loved him. And now, living here, being a part of this family, it’s hard sometimes to balance my feelings,”

She looked up at him. “He’s just always been such a shit. And I’ve thought so many times that he was going to change. Maybe see the error of his ways and realize that there was a better way to live. But it just keeps happening. And with Kate and Duke saying that it looks like he was behind this whole break out…the reason a girl was taken by Tetch….why a man was killed by Day,”

He shook his head. “No Steph. That’s on the both of them,” he said. “Not on your dad. And definitely not on you.” He kissed her head again. 

“I know. I think deep down, I know that,” she said. 

A knock came from the door. “Tim, is Steph in there?” Dick called from outside.

“Yeah, what is it?” she asked. 

Dick opened the door a crack. “Decent?” 

“Ugh!” she groaned. “Just come in. What is it?” 

“Was hoping I could have a word with you, if you don’t mind,” he said.

“About?” she asked, sitting up and holding the covers to her chest again. 

“Your father,” he said. “Kate was doing some digging into the break out and saw that you listed as a visitor at Blackgate on a few occasions.”

Stephanie’s face dropped. Tim saw her brows shift back to angry. “Don’t you think that I’d say something to you already if there had been anything he said that could help find him, Dick?” she asked, putting a little more emphasis on his name for added measure.

“I know that, but maybe there’s something he said that didn’t stick out at the time but may mean something more,” he said. “I’m not accusing you of anything,” he said defensively.

She looked at Dick and paused. “I went and saw him a few times, yes. We talked about my childhood. He wanted me to know that he wasn’t going to out me to anyone and that despite everything he was sorry that he wasn’t there enough for me,” she said. “I told him how I wished he would have changed sides. That I worried about him being in there. He told me not to worry. Told me that he was safe and that he would be ok,” she said. “That’s all. Nothing about planning to escape. Nothing about who he had been talking to on the inside or on the outside.”

He nodded. “Ok, thanks,” he said. "I'll let you two get back to...whatever you were doing," he said as he backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about going to see him,” she said to Tim.

“You have every right to go see him,” he said. “I wish you’d confide in me more and let me be there for you, but I’m not going to force you to share that stuff with me if you don’t want to,” he said, touching her back. 

She collapsed back on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her. “You’re the best when you wanna be, ya know,” she said, closing her eyes and resting in his embrace.


End file.
